Young Cork man whose mother died on the streets says he is now on the brink of homelessness

Garda and members of Cork Simon pictured removing bedding on Lower Oliver Plunkett street, Cork city where a woman in her 40's was found dead. The woman is understood to have been a user of homeless services in Cork for a number of years, and had been interacting with homeless services in recent days. (Image: Pic Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision)

A young man whose mum died while sleeping rough in Cork last year, has said he is now on the verge of ending up on the streets with his pregnant girlfriend.

Kathleen O’Sullivan, 43, died on the streets of Cork on December 6 last year. She was found huddled under blankets at a doorway in Anderson’s Quay in the city.

Her aunt Helen also died in the same doorway while sleeping rough in 2010.

Edmund O’Sullivan, son of Kathleen, described how his mother was a “proud” woman who would not ask family members for help.

He said “People think that because my mother died on the streets that she was an alcoholic or she used to take drugs. My mother wasn’t like that at all.

"She could have come up to my house. She could have gone up to her sister’s house. She was just too proud. She wouldn’t ask. That was the way she was.”

Garda pictured on Lower Oliver Plunkett street, Cork city where a woman in her 40's was found dead. It is believed that the woman had been sleeping rough. The woman's body was found close to the Anderson's Quay emergency shelter run by Cork Simon Community. The woman is understood to have been a user of homeless services in Cork for a number of years, and had been interacting with homeless services in recent days. (Image: Pic Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision)